Gang makes Escondido family want to flee

But Habitat for Humanity rules make leaving complicated

ESCONDIDO  The Gillies were chasing the dream of homeownership and looked forward to peace and harmony when they moved into a Habitat for Humanity subdivision in east Escondido seven years ago.

Instead, the family says they’ve watched a SWAT team sweep into the neighborhood, been intimidated by gang members, found guns in their yard and seen stolen cars repeatedly show up on their cul-de-sac.

“We shouldn’t have to deal with auto theft, drug dealing and constant intimidation of the school children,” Gina Gillie said this week from her home on Milane Lane, near Ash Street and Lincoln Avenue. “I don’t feel safe here at all.”

Unlike most families facing similar neighborhood problems, the Gillies and their two children can’t move away easily because the federal government and Habitat subsidized their home purchase.

Another complication is that the Gillies are upside down on the unusual mortgage they received from Habitat, a nonprofit that builds homes for low-income families nationwide. The Gillies bought one of the seven homes in the subdivision in 2006 before property values plummeted in the real estate crash.

The Gillies say an alternative would be ridding the neighborhood of a documented gang member they blame for most of the problems.

Habitat officials say they’ve struggled to use the behavior of Eduardo Arguelles, 22, to foreclose on him and his family.

Arguelles is scheduled to stand trial in June for an armed robbery of a 7-Eleven in east Escondido last December, Deputy District Attorney Cal Logan said this week. Arguelles has been a documented gang member since shortly after that crime, Logan said.

Lori Holt Pfeiler, executive director of Habitat’s San Diego chapter, said the 7-Eleven robbery hasn’t helped the foreclosure effort as much as Habitat thought because it didn’t take place within the subdivision.

She said Habitat began legal proceedings in January to foreclose on the Arguelles family because of the suspected criminal activity. Pfeiler said she was optimistic, but unsure how long the process would take.

“You never solve problems like this as fast as you’d like,” she said.

The Gillies contend Habitat officials haven’t prioritized the subdivision’s problems. And they say Habitat didn’t do enough vetting before selling the homes.

“In every meeting before we moved in, Habitat made it very clear there would be zero tolerance for any kind of criminal behavior,” Gina Gillie said.

Pfeiler said Habitat hasn’t been negligent.

“We vetted them the same as every other family,” she said. “In 25 years building homes, we’ve only had one family out of 187 turn out like this.”

William Wolfe, the attorney for Arguelles, didn’t return a phone call Friday.

The Gillies also complained that the city and Habitat have been slow and mostly uncooperative in helping them buy another home elsewhere.

“They’re making it really hard on us,” said Jim Gillie, Gina’s husband.

Similar sentiments were offered by a neighbor, who asked that her name be withheld because she fears the gang presence in the subdivision.

“Basically, we don’t have any options,” she said. “My preference would be to get out, but Habitat has been unwilling to relocate us.”